This has been a good day. I woke up to the smell of bacon cooking. Yes, I’m one of those bacon fanatics. Having grandparents and later parents who owned a hog farm, there was never a shortage of bacon in our house. As a young child, I was convinced it was one of the four basic food groups.
After eating breakfast, I went outside to my car and noticed the beautiful weather. The slight crispness in the air tickled my nose as I inhaled. The fall colors were beginning to crawl their way through the green, and I knew more changes were on the way.
I love the changing of the seasons. I have many friends who live near the equator, and the only change they experience is that the weather goes from hot and dry to hot and wet. But I love living in a place where the summers are hot, the winters are cold and the rest of the year, we live somewhere between the two ends of the thermometer.
Then, I went to Walmart and won the lottery. No, not the lottery where you win money. Instead, I won the lottery for the cart: the only one that doesn’t wobble and has no stuck wheels. Do you know the odds of pulling the only good one out of the sea of shopping carts? I’m no mathematician, but they must be about the same as finding a golden ticket in a Wonka bar.
Until today, I thought the good shopping cart was a cultural myth. I usually test two or three carts before I enter the store. No matter how careful I am, about 10 feet inside the door, one of the wheels freezes up, and I spend the rest of my shopping time pushing three and dragging one up and down the aisles.
My three grandsons also came by to see their Poppy today. We swam and enjoyed splashing each other with water. While wrapped in our towels, drying off, we licked on popsicles and talked about everything under the sun.
My 3-year-old grandson, River the Peacemaker, has become a world class Super Mario Brothers video game player and wanted to play a game with his Poppy. His eye-hand coordination is much better than Poppy’s; he laughs when he beats me every time. We ate pizza together, and before the boys got cranky, their parents took them home.
Things went well at work today too. I was able to get a lot done without many interruptions. People are signing up to help me work with Vine and Branches ministries in Piedras Negras, Mexico. Most days I end up further behind than when I started. That is frustrating when you have deadlines to meet, but then there are days like today when you accomplish more than you planned.
Next, my wife and I went out for dinner and had a delightful time visiting, laughing and talking. Our conversation was all over the place, from our grandsons to planning our upcoming trip with our family to Padre Island. When you can make each other laugh, it’s always a good night.
After that, we had to go to the mall for a few minutes. I don’t know how it got started, but we always hold hands when we walk together. Maybe when we were younger, she thought if I wandered off by myself, I would spend too much money. She may hold it now because she thinks I’m becoming a little senile and can’t find my way back to the parking lot on my own.
Now I’m sitting here writing to my friends and extended family. In some ways, writing to you is like writing a love letter, except I don’t have to pay postage. It really is a good day.
The Bible tells us about two kinds of days: the good days and the good days. There is the good day like the one I’m experiencing. The sun is shining, everyone is doing well, the bills are paid and you discovered the one good shopping cart at Walmart.
But there’s another kind of good day. It happens when God meets you at the lowest point of your life. You didn’t even realize He cared about what was going on. Then, as only God can, He reaches into your depression, your grief, your tiredness and lifts you above the fray of the temporal. He brings you peace and joy that surpass any worldly situation.
“The young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow” (Jer. 31:13).
Do you want to have a good day? Let God have it, and you will.
